Dutch Oven Southwestern Baked Brown Rice with tomato, avocado cilantro, scallions, salsa verde, Cotija cheese crumbles served with lime for a complete meal.

When my husband and I bought our house, we allowed our completely OCD selves to take over and we meticulously cleaned every nook and cranny of our very first shot at home ownership. It is an overwhelmingly exhilarating, yet absolutely terrifying idea to absorb, that after over a decade of renting apartments you are now homeowners and solely responsible for minute details of maintenance. And catastrophic events. The phrase “You break it, you buy it” has absolutely never rung more true and I kept dreaming about the old classic film “The Money Pit”. But I digress, and rewind a few thoughts back to the obsessive cleaning.

We disassembled the shelves and drawers of the stunning fridge, the gas range, microwave and dishwasher. Before we officially moved in, we made sure to get every speck of dirt out of the kitchen as well as the rest of the house. What made us laugh when we wiped down each drawer, every cabinet, ad behind the oven, were the little runaway pieces of brown rice we kept finding. It is not to say the previous owners had hiddenrice fields in their cabinets - it was the fact that rice is just one of those ingredients that likes to squirrel itself away, never to be found again. Unless we buy a different house and indulge our filth hunting skills once again and detect those little stowaways.

Dutch Oven Southwestern Baked Brown Rice for days...if you're a family of two!

Rice, as it happens, is the most universal type of grain used in all cultural cuisine. It can be fluffed up, gelatinous, slightly sticky, crispy, and utterly comforting in whichever type of cuisine is made. I even wrote a poem about rice and my love for it when I was very young, though I do not recall much beyond “Rice is nice”. I was an extremely eloquent child, clearly, and my soliloquy skills were not quite up to snuff at such a delicately young age.

Brown rice is always a little tricky to prepare without overcooking it or undercooking it, leaving yourself with a little bowl of sadness you eat anyways because it is supposed to be good for you. When prepared correctly, brown rice has this wonderfully nutty flavor, particularly pleasing to the palate with a slight chew, and altogether different experience than eating say, a Jasmine rice or Arborio rice. I’ve discovered the secret to perfectly fluffed up brown rice that does not clump, crackle, nor crunch between your teeth. And no, it is not to put it in a rice cooker!

Dutch Oven Southwestern Baked Brown Rice is fluffed upend ready to be eaten!

Believe it or not, something mystical happens when you oven bake brown rice in a covered Dutch Oven INSIDE your oven. To impersonate someone who actually understands physics and air circulation, I theorize that being inside the covered Dutch Oven creates a good amount of steam to successfully cook the rice. However, instead of having the heat source from just a burner underneath the pot that leads to so many failed brown rice attempts, the all encompassing heat from the oven creates an even cook all around the rice, allowing it to properly fluff up instead of get bitter and crunchy or disintegrating to mush.

This recipe is for an enticing Southwestern take on rice different than rice typically served in a Mexican restaurant. There is a little heat from the jalapeño, earthiness from the cumin, a hit of sweetness from the corn, all complementing the savory black beans and nutty rice. The rice itself absorbs all those spices you’ve let bloom from the beginning of the preparation, and I use chicken stock to help boost the flavor subtly. If you want to make this completely Vegan dish you can substitute a great vegetable stock for the chicken. This dish is really something quite special, as it can be eaten as a meal by itself, or used as a side for charred meats. I have used it in burritos using these fabulous tortillas, as a base for homemade street tacos or burrito bowls, as well as in salads as a little extra oomph to just the greens. The leftovers, if you end up with them, reheat beautifully and maintain the fluffiness without becoming soggy like some other types of rice will when reheated. As an added bonus, as it takes an hour to bake, this rice dish frees you up to do other things that are probably needing to be done…like vacuuming or laundry.

Endless amounts of ways to eat and enjoy this Dutch Oven Southwestern Baked Brown Rice.

Dutch Oven Southwestern Baked Brown Rice

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 6-8, depending you intend to eat as a main dish or side dish

Baking brown rice in a covered dish in the oven is one of the absolute best methods I’ve found for cooking this slightly finicky ingredient. The gentle, even heat of the oven in conjunction with the steam created inside the covered Dutch Oven will yield perfectly cooked, fluffy brown rice. This method allows each grain of rice to plump and become fluffy, but not sticky.

Do not be terrified of the amount of Olive Oil this recipe calls for. It is essential to allow the rice to not burn and stick to the pot. The resulting rice has a silky texture and the grassy notes of the oil complement the nuttiness of the brown rice beautifully.

This rice is one of my keeper recipes I make again and again. It is extremely versatile, as you can eat it with some salsa, avocado, thinly sliced jalapeño, freshly chopped tomato, cilantro, and a little Cotija cheese with a squeeze of lime as a complete main dish. I have also used this in burritos, as a side to grilled meats, in salads, with an egg on top…you get the picture. The possibilities are endless and I can not get enough of it.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cups chopped onion, roughly 1/2 inch pieces (1 large onion)
2 Cups chopped Red Bell Pepper, roughly 1/2 inch pieces (1 pepper)
1 Tbsp minced Jalapeño (roughly 1/2 a jalapeño, with seeds if you want it spicy)
1 Tbsp minced Garlic
2 1/2 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
3/4 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cup dry Brown Rice
2 Tsp ground Cumin
1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 Tsp dried Oregano
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
3/4 Cup Corn
2 Cans Black Beans, rinsed thoroughly.

Directions:

Remove top rack in your oven and position middle rack so it will fit your Dutch Oven with cover comfortably.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a medium Saucepan, bring the chicken Stock, Water, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Oregano, and Salt to a boil then take off the heat. Doing this first will let those spices start blooming and give your final dish a deeper, more complex flavor without having to fuss over the stove for hours for a similar effect.
In a Dutch Oven, heat the Olive Oil over a medium high flame until it shimmers. You will smell the grassy notes of the olive oil once it is ready.
Add in the onion, a tiny bit of salt to help the onions draw out their natural juices, and let them brown for 8 minutes, stirring to thoroughly coat them in the Olive Oil and ensure they brown and almost reach the point of caramelizing. Do not be afraid if there are some burned looking bits, these will ultimately help add a deeper depth of flavor to the rice.
After the 8 minutes, reduce the heat a little and add in the Red Bell pepper and the Jalepeno. Continue to saute for 5 minutes, then add in the Garlic. Let the garlic just start to open up its flavor for about 1 minute.
Turn the flame up to medium high and add in the Chicken Stock and spice mixture. Let come to a boil.
Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and mix in the Brown Rice thoroughly.
Place the cover on the Dutch Oven and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 60 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, very carefully remove the piping hot Dutch Oven and remove the cover. Thoroughly stir in the Corn and Black Beans, making sure to carefully scrape down the sides where the spices may have tried to gather. Cover the Dutch Oven for 5 minutes to allow the Corn and Black beans to heat through.
Serve as Main Dish with toppings of your choice, or however you imagine it will suit you best!!